The Astor Estate: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble

Photo: Chester Higgins Jr.

Every new beginning, as they say, comes from some other beginning’s end, and from Brooke Astor’s death yesterday comes a new beginning that’s just getting warmed up: the fight over her fortune, estimated at $130 million. Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, who last year was accused by his son of neglecting her and subsequently agreed to return $11 million, claims he shared her final moments, and according to his wife, even “cradled her in his arms.” But the Daily News quotes a source who says he wasn’t even there. And the Post jumps on the bandwagon, too, finding sources who say that a handwriting expert found a forged signature on a recent codicil to her will. They also claim the Manhattan District Attorney’s office is considering tax-fraud charges against Marshall. In other words, it’s just as we all suspected: The only parties set to benefit more than her heirs are thetabloids.